For the most part, I really enjoy reviewing new material specifically things that are in the current year. As I have found with lesser known and underground metal releases, dates are sort of flexible when it comes to when an audience will hear it. Take for example and their debut The Promise of Coffins. This release is unmistakably a 2014 record coming out in the early months of Spring. The Promise of Coffins went unheard by the majority of the world until this year seeing a tape / cd release by Glossolalia Records. Make no mistake, Seme Konj will probably be only heard by a few more people but suffice to say that many more people will reveal in chaos.

To begin, Seme Konj is rough. The Promise of Coffins is boiled in low production. To add to this, the songs range from a minute or two to nearly 10 minutes of unstructured chaos. I understand that is is hard to sell that sort of idea to some people but suffice to say by midway through “The Femur Tree,” the singer known as Mendikunt audibly breathes into the mic before screeching into an abyss. The song continues to lumber on thin strings of melody all the while cloaked in noise. One realizes after this how they arrived at listening to this type of music and when they started to enjoy it more than being scared by it.

The Promise of Coffins is deceptive in how repellent it is especially once one becomes antiquated with the record. It is easy to enjoy this record or at least understand it. This maybe coming from someone who has lost all aural sensitivity but suffice to say the noise portion of Seme Konj is only surface deep — at least production wise. Beyond the wall of white noise lies a record which is surprisingly more ugly than its blurred exterior. The somber cries and speeches of the singer with the depressive atmosphere makes the whole thing sapped of warmth and hope. By the end of “Paean of the Agnostic,” one wonders where the time went or what it is even worth. There is a distinct lack of care for traditional aesthetics as Seme Konj aims to drain the life essence of its listener. The Promise of Coffins sounds and feels like cold concrete and I couldn’t be happier to find this one year later.